Thursday, June 10, 2010

2010 Tai Lao Shan Lu Xue Ya

Hot summer is here. Should I say finally? Rain stopped and temperatures scaled up from 10˚C to 34 from one day to another.

This caused me two days long intensive headache. And I wasn’t the only one on whom it had this effect.

It seems like my organism has already accustomed to this rapid change. I hope so.

This tea was picked on 25 April on Tai Lao Shan mountain, FujianProvince. Lu Xue Ya is still relatively new tea, being “invented” just few years ago.

Dry leaf smells very fresh and vivid, floral and with some tones resembling Japanese green teas.

After pouring the water on leaves, this smell even intensifies and fills the whole room with spring. Just as last year, just as the year before the last one, it never takes me down and is always this wonderful.

Overall, the scent is stupefying, just as I would expect from fresh tea of this type. It is green – the definition of green and how would it possibly smell.

First infusion is floral, soft and juicy as expected. Immediately after tasting, tones of honey and fresh, sweet plums touch the tongue. There is no bitterness at all.

This fruitiness continues in second infusion, being accompanied by mild, noble spicy tones, which pleasantly invigorate the whole impression this tea gives.

Tea is enjoyed in five infusions. It would be able to produce more of them, but I somehow felt that five would be just right today. Cool character of this tea, intensified by brewing in glass was able to ease me of the summer heat at least for a while.

This Lu Xue Ya is an inexpensive tea, quality of which overpasses the price. It is a great way to refresh yourself in summer and calmly relax, listening either to music, or silence.

Both go well with this tea.

Also, as you've probably noticed, I brewed this tea in quite a specific and somehow unconventional "device" - using this seems to be quite a trend in China nowadays, especially while travelling. It's easy to understand why -this jar is very resistant, easy to carry everywhere and the usage is very simple - you just put the leaves in, pour water on them and... drink. Another option is pouring the tea off to another pot, using the built-in filter. It is also very relaxing to watch the leaves unfolding in water.

And that's exactly what I do during these hot, sultry days when I'm too lazy to use even a gaiwan.

4 comments:

I need to get myself one of those thermoses! I wouldn't get glass though, probably a polycarbon one. I have heard great things about them though!Beautiful pictures! Glad you're enjoying summer!Fujian greens are wonderful too =]

It's encouraging that new types of tea like this are continually being developed.

Do you drink any less tea in the summer? I brew a lot of herbs from the garden and then ice them, and drink tons of that...mostly mint and lemon balm...and I sometimes make iced tea but I tend to still drink hot tea in the morning and afternoon, except on the hottest days, and even then I still sometimes drink hot tea in the morning.

I drink even more tea in summer than in other seasons of the year, if it's possible. Hot tea, especially fresh green like this one, is one of only few things that are able to cool me down. Though I also drink quite a lot of tea made from fresh mint, too, but still, mostly hot (although I use to ice it from time to time). The only notable difference in my summer tea-drinking regime is probably that I tend to be lazier and prepare tea like in this post instead of ceramics I usually use. ;)

About Me

Necessary to say, I'm not a native English speaker (as you have probably already figured out from my entries), so please forgive me my mistakes and limited use of language. Other than that, I am an eternal student deeply appreciating good tea and all joys connected to it. Among my other interests is poetry – apart from reading, I also try to do my best in writing it. Then goes film, which is a big passion of mine as well as my field of study. Naturally, I would like to continue and deepen these interests in the future.